Rose Blanche: Located 46.2 km (28.7 mi) from Channel-Port aux Basques, at the end of Route 470, Rose Blanche is one of the prettiest towns on the south shore.

Surprisingly the names town does not refer to a "white rose", rather it is a corruption of the term "roche blanche" (or "white rock") which refers to the outcroppings of white quartz that is especially visible from Diamond Cove, which is on the west side of the Rose Blanche Bay.

Rose Blanche is now known as Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou. Harbour Le Cou is slightly north of Rose Blanche. The relationship of the two harbours is quite unique: Rose Blanche's harbour opens to the southwest, while Harbour le Cou's opens to the Southeast.

So, what does that mean? Simply put it means that depending on conditions, fishermen have a choice of harbour to dock at (i.e., depending on winds, etc.) and if they live in Rose Blanche and land in Harbour Le Cou, they just have to walk home across a narrow stretch of land (and vice versa).

Harbour le Cou is one of those towns that have English/French names. In French, le cou refers to a person's neck but in this case, the "cou" refers to the neck of an hourglass, which is the shape of the body of water in the harbour.

Captain James Cook, according to ENL contributors, reported finding a fishing stage in Harbour le Cou as far back as 1765.
When the town was incorporated in 1971, there were nearly 1,000 inhabitants; in the latest census, dated 2016, there were only 394 inhabitants, down 13.4% from the 455 reported in 2011

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/RoseBlancheHarbourLeCou